10/02/2018

The Georgia Department of Agriculture has found Yates-Astro Termite & Pest Control did not kill bees on Tybee Island, according to their official report. The city of Tybee Island contracted with Yates-Astro to treat fire ant mounds in Jaycee Park in May.

State inspectors tested soil and bee samples from the area, collected by David Strickland with Tybee Island Hives, at their laboratory in Tifton for pesticide exposure. During their investigation, state officials only found Altosid (S-methoprene) in the dead bees. Altosid is a larvicide used by Chatham County to control mosquitoes. Inspectors recorded Chatham County Mosquito Control sprayed the this specific area on April 25, 2018, two weeks before Yates-Astro treated the park for fire ants on May 9, 2018.

Inspectors did find a 4,000th of a percent amount of Fendona CS (cypermethrin), the product Yates-Astro used to treat fire ant mounds in Jaycee Park. However, state officials say this is a microscopic amount of product and would not cause the bee deaths. The state also found no evidence of Advion (indoxacarb), the granules Yates-Astro also applied throughout the park, in the collected samples.

State inspectors told Yates-Astro the beehives were infested with mites, which is a natural occurrence in beehives. Yates-Astro manager, Mark Willman, said although mites do not kill bees, they carry viruses that could kill bees.

Yates-Astro Termite & Pest Control takes pride in our professionally trained technicians and is proud to be the most trusted pest control company in the Coastal Empire for nearly a century.